Library and Information Science Commons^™

Cataloging Research By Design: A Taxonomic Approach To Understanding Research Questions In Cataloging, Rachel Ivy Clarke

School of Information Studies - Faculty Scholarship

This paper asserts that many research questions (RQs) in cataloging reflect design-based RQs, rather than traditional scientific ones. To support this idea, a review of existing discussions of RQs is presented to identify prominent types of RQs, including design-based RQs. RQ types are then classified into a taxonomic framework and compared with RQs from the Everyday Cataloger Concerns project, which aimed to identify important areas of research from the perspective of practicing catalogers. This comparative method demonstrates the ways in which the research areas identified by cataloging practitioners reflect design RQs—and therefore require design approaches and methods to answer them.

Toward A Design Epistemology For Librarianship, Rachel I. Clarke

School of Information Studies - Faculty Scholarship

The design of information tools and services is an integral component of librarianship, yet American librarianship has self-identified as a social science for more than 100 years. This paper suggests an alternative epistemological perspective to the scientific tradition in librarianship: design epistemology. The paper discusses key elements that comprise design epistemology and presents examples of manifestations of these elements in librarianship. Analysis reveals that librarianship has much in common with design epistemology, yet the field lacks explicit acknowledgement of design as a fundamental epistemological framework. The paper concludes with a call for reconceptualizing librarianship as a design discipline.

Transitioning From The Mls To The Mld: Integrating Design Thinking And Philosophy Into Library And Information Science Education, Rachel I. Clarke, Steven Bell

School of Information Studies - Faculty Scholarship

Purpose

As change creates more uncertainty for library practitioners, graduate library education needs to explore how to best prepare students to manage ambiguity through new approaches to identifying and solving challenging problems. We advocate for incorporating design into graduate library education.

Design/Methodology/Approach

First, we discuss the need for a design approach to librarianship. We then introduce the nature of design thinking and philosophy, and discuss the ways in which it is already present in librarianship. We review past developments and recent trends with a special focus on the ways in which design thinking, methods, and philosophies are (or are not) …